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Wednesday, October 2, 2019
hannibal Essay -- essays research papers fc
     From the middle of the 3rd century to the middle of the 2nd century BC, Carthage was engaged in a series of wars with Rome (Dorey, P 57). These wars, known as the Punic Wars, ended in the complete defeat of Carthage by Rome. The most prominent figure of the Punic wars was General Hannibal of Pheonician Carthage. During these wars, it's likely that the colonizing expeditions of the Carthaginians were supported by many emigrants from the Phoenician homeland.          Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca. According to Polybius and Livy, the main Latin sources for his life, Hannibal was taken to Spain by his father and at an early age was made to swear eternal hostility to Rome (Dorey, P 24). From the death of his father in 229/228 until his own death, Hannibal's life was one of constant struggle against the Roman republic.      His earliest commands were given to him in the Carthaginian p rovince of Spain by Hasdrubal, son-in-law and successor of Hamilcar; and it is clear that he emerged as a successful officer, for, on the assassination of Hasdrubal in 221 BC, the army proclaimed him, at the age of 26, its commander in chief, and the Carthaginian government quickly ratified his field appointment (Dorey, P 27).      Some details of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps have been preserved. At first danger came from the Allobroges, who attacked the rear of Hannibal's column. (Along the middle stages of the route, other Celtic groups attacked the baggage animals and rolled heavy stones down from the heights on the enfilade below, thus causing both men and animals to panic and lose their footings on the precipitous paths. Hannibal took countermeasures, but these involved him in heavy losses in men.) On the third day he captured a Gallic town and provided the army from its stores with rations for two or three days. Harassed by the daytime attentions of the Gauls from the heights and mistrusting the loyalty of his Gallic guides, Hannibal bivouacked on a large bare rock to cover the passage by night of his horses and pack animals in the gorge below. Snow was falling on the summit of the pass, making the descent even more treacherous. Upon the hardened ice of the previous year's fall, the soldiers and animals ali... ...r his elephants and horses as well as his men gives proof of a humane disposition. His treachery, that punica fides that the Romans detested, could from another point of view pass for resourcefulness in war and boldness in stratagem (encyclopedia.com). Of his wit and subtlety of speech many anecdotes remain. He spoke Greek and Latin fluently, but more personal information is absent from his biographies. He is shown in the only surviving portraits, the silver coins of Cartagena struck in 221, the year of his election as general, with a youthful, beardless, and pleasant face. Hannibal Michael Long 3.05.02 Medieval History, Hour 2 Works Cited http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM      It is a web page by the Washington State University. http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/02359ThePunicWarsandtheDeclineofCarthage.      html      This is a web page of factual information provided in the form of an      encyclopedia. Dorey, T.A., and D.R. Dudley. Rome Against Carthage. London: Secker & Warburg,      1971.
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